“We need to get involved in supporting our Mennonite church schools so that our students will not be forced to attend state universities just because of cost.” That is the strong sentiment of Everett and Naomi Ulrich of Manson, Iowa, who have established a scholarship fund at Goshen College as their way of getting involved.
Although his primary interest has always been music, John Thut graduated from CC in 1923 with a degree in biology. He said it was not fully “acceptable” at that time to pursue music as a career.
Goshen College enjoys the generous financial support of many persons, but only one family has adopted an entire department. Ed and Mary Swartzendruber of New Paris, Ind., have been loyal patrons of the music department for nearly a decade.
Lee and Alma Sutter, Hopedale, Illinois, demonstrated a strong sense of loving duty toward their church, community, and family. Lee was a farmer with a flair for carpentry and construction.
When Minnie Sutter remembered her college years at Goshen, in the mid-30’s, she thought of the Depression--of hard times. She remembered having to postpone college for a year, cleaning houses in Valparaiso for three and a half dollars a week.
Johanna Sutter was born in Germany and as a child lived through World War II. Following the war, her family received assistance from Mennonite Central Committee.
Virgil and Marie were raised near Berne, Indiana. For a couple years after graduation from high school, Marie was employed as a seamstress in a clothing factory and Virgil assisted with the operation of a dairy farm.
Lester Hostetler, a former Mennonite church minister at Bethel College (Kansas), has created an endowed trust fund for Goshen College as a tribute to his mother—in—law, Clara Eby Steiner. Lester’s gift to GC was prompted by the death of his wife, Charity, in the spring of 1987. He remembers how often she would identify herself as “the daughter Clara Eby Steiner.”
They were generous supporters of the East Bend Mennonite Church, Fisher, Illinois, and other church institutions. The endowment of a scholarship at Goshen College is typical of their lifetime priorities of providing opportunities for others.
Paul Smucker has fond memories of his first year as a student at the GC Academy. He drove a horse and buggy to school, stopping on the way to pick up two friends who also attended the academy.
